Mail Time in Central
Title: Mail Time in Central
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Pre Roy/Ed
Summary: “General Roy Mustang. Amestris. Central City Command. Second floor, third office. Big table,” Havoc read the envelope. “What kind of person sends mail by owl?”
“Wizards,” Roy answered.
Author's Note: So I am working on a long Hogwarts AU. It takes place four years after this. It is a Roy/Ed with Alphonse all at Hogwarts. Not many HP characters will show up in it other than teachers, but I'm enjoying playing at Hogwarts. Team Mustang has not made much of an appearance there either. Which led me to wonder how they would react to Wizard-Alchemist Mustang, and thus this piece was born :P
The main story will be a pretty explicit Roy/Ed story, with Alphonse and his friends at Hogwarts to cause trouble/solve a case. Not ready to start posting that, but I thought someone might enjoy a holiday preview of that world :P Hope you like it!
“Sir, what is that?”
General Roy Mustang looked up from his conversation with Havoc and it took him a moment to realize what had caused Hawkeye to call out to him.
Sitting in the middle of the desk was a majestic bird. The feathers were brown and white and it was a beautiful specimen. It had been some time since he’d last seen an owl in person and he never would have expected to see one here, in Central City in the middle of his office, but he recognized the handwriting on the envelope the owl clutched from across the table. The owl clicked his beak at Roy and he smiled.
“That is a Great Horned Owl,” he said as he reached an arm out. The owl came straight for him and he took the letter and set it on the table as he stroked the owl’s beak and head. “You have done a magnificent job. Thank you for your service.”
He dug into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out an owl treat. Alphonse said he would write once he got to Hogwarts and though Roy had doubted that he’d have time, he’d started to keep treats with him, just in case.
The bird took the treat and nipped his fingers playfully until Roy gave him a second. “Go along now. I have another messenger to send a return letter.”
The bird flew out the door and down the hall.
“Sir?”
He picked up the envelope and was happy to see the address.
“General Roy Mustang. Amestris. Central City Command. Second floor, third office. Big table,” Havoc read the envelope. “What kind of person sends mail by owl?”
“Wizards,” Roy answered.
“Is it from Ed?” Fuery asked.
“Alphonse, right?” Breda asked.
“I’ll know in a moment, won’t I?” he teased. They didn’t have anything truly pressing at the moment so he let them wait as he read the letter.
“Alphonse. He and Ed did as well in the testing as we thought they would, though Ed is still upset that Alphonse only tested into his age level and didn’t want to try to test out of more classes. Ed tested out of four of the core classes and…” Roy laughed, “passed the Defense Against the Dark Arts class but has to take it as a fourth year because he kept using alchemy instead of magic.”
He could picture it, and the tantrum Fullmetal had probably thrown when they announced that he had to take the class.
“They’re really learning to use magic?” Falman asked. Of all the staff he seemed the most fascinated with magic. He’d borrowed every book he could get his hands on until Roy had found him rather depressed about the lack of new reading material. Roy had loaned him a few of his personal books from his own time at Hogwarts and he kept an eye out for any new history texts.
“Yes,” Roy said as he continued to read. He looked up and smiled. “It seemed Hogwarts needed someone to teach their sixth and seventh year students alchemy. Since Ed tested out of so many classes, he’s teaching the class part time.”
“Ed is teaching a class? Man, I would pay to see that,” Havoc said with a laugh.
“Not to be in it though,” Hawkeye added. “So, they are settling in well?”
“Alphonse said Ed asked him not to say what House he’d been sorted into, but Alphonse is a Hufflepuff.” The others wouldn’t really understand the House system at Hogwarts but Roy could see him there. “It’s a good fit for him. Though now I am curious about Ed. If he was a Hufflepuff as well, Al wouldn’t have commented. I would have assumed they were sorted into Houses together.”
“Hard workers. Fair. That was Hufflepuff, correct?” Falman asked.
Roy nodded. “Yes.”
“What house were you, Sir?”
Roy was one of a few. In a world where magic and alchemy co-existed, they did so uneasily and few people took the path to become both a wizard and an alchemist. The training for both was too focused and too demanding. Roy was one of two Wizard-Alchemists in the world who had passed through formal training. There were always rumors of others in the world, people who’d done the training but weren’t recognized for their skills for some reason but they were never substantiated. There were only seven others in history that were known. It was a rare person who could do both. And he was thrilled, and a bit terrified, that both Elric brothers would join those ranks as well.
“Slytherin.”
“Don’t most of the dark wizards of the world come from Slytherin?”
“They do. It’s become a bit synonymous with the Dark Arts, though it isn’t encouraged at Hogwarts. Each house encourages different traits for their students,” he said to the others.
“Slytherin house is known for their ambition and drive,” Falman said. “I can see why you would fit there, Sir.”
He smiled. “It was a good match as well.”
“Do they always send mail through owl? Wizards I mean?”
“No,” Mustang said with a smile. “If that were the only way I would have asked the owl to remain while I responded to Alphonse’s letter.”
“How will you get a message to him then?” Fuery asked.
He hadn’t opened his mouth when the answer flew through the doorway and landed on his shoulder. She poked around behind his ear a moment and trilled lightly to him as he reached up to coax his beauty onto his hand. She was still an infant, hatched two weeks past, but already strong enough to bare what no other could. It was the nature of her kind.
“This is Peruro. She’s consented to take the message to Alphonse for me. It’s not the sort of work she is used to, but I think she’s looking forward to seeing Hogwarts with her new eyes.”
“Sir, what is she?”
“Peruro is a Hoo-Hoo. Sort of like a phoenix but not as big. She will be quite exquisite when she gets her full set of feathers back though. She’s only just hatched from the fire two weeks ago. Maybe I’ll have to bring you in once you grow to your full glory so I can show you off,” he commented to her.
She preened under his words and he set her up on his shoulder. “I have some things to do before I can write Alphonse. Are you going to stay?” she bit his ear and he laughed. “Alright, I get it.”
The others were enamored of her already, he could tell. She’d been more than helpful over the years since he’d acquired her and she was a loving companion.
“I think I need to find my quill.”
“Sir, you have one?” Falman asked, delighted.
“Of course. I don’t use it usually, but it seems wrong not to keep a quill and scrolls for correspondence with the wizarding world.”
“Do you often?” Breda asked.
“I have kept in touch with the Headmaster at my former school, and his successor. Dumbledore’s loss was tragic for all of us but they were in the middle of a war while we were preparing for the Promised Day. I had no way of leaving my post to help them, no matter how much it pained me to leave them to their own.”
“They prevailed though?”
He let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Much like us, through sheer luck and the determination of strong-willed children.”
“Will Ed and Alphonse do well there?” Hawkeye asked. As tough as she could be on all of them, it was her love and loyalty that drove her.
He would love to steal the sorting hat and see where it would have spit his team out, if they’d had a chance to attend Hogwarts.
“They will,” he said. “It’s probably safer for them there than here, while Grumman tries to settle this mess. It’s easy enough to explain Ed and Al off to study than to explain why Alphonse is suddenly in a body again. It’ll give them time to recover. And even if Hogwarts is still recovering from their own losses after Voldemort’s defeat, they’ll treat the brothers right.”
“You’re sure?” Havoc asked. “I mean, Ed can be a little hard to get used to.”
It was said with a fond smile and Roy knew exactly what he meant. A summer of tutoring them both in magic had changed his dynamics with both Ed and Alphonse. They’d stayed with him so they could study around his work hours and it seemed to have paid off.
“I spoke with the Headmistress myself. She knows their background and will keep an eye on them.”
“That’s good to know, Sir,” Hawkeye said. When she looked down at her desk and began to work it was clear she meant everyone else to do the same. He smiled and thought about the boys in Hogwarts and decided to write Alphonse now before the call of duty kept him from it.
As fascinated as his team had been, Roy pulled his wand from a hidden pocket in his jacket. It was made from flame elder wood, a rare piece of work, Ollivander himself had said. Roy had not yet begun to study flame alchemy at the time of his wand’s choosing, but years later the wand seemed to mock him with prescience of what he would one day become. He had come to terms with it now, but there had been a time when the sight of his wand had disgusted him.
The wood was pale with shoots of red dancing around the twisted wooden form. The core was from a phoenix feather, yet another sign of his future strengths in alchemy. At the time, and as it did now, the beauty of the wand soothed him. He turned back towards his office and called ‘Accio parchment. Accio quill’.
They both shot towards him and he grabbed the scroll and quill from the air and sat down in the outer office with the others. They’d never actually seen him do magic before and he worked hard to keep a straight face as he sat to compile his letter to Alphonse.
When it was done, he cast a drying spell so the ink wouldn’t smear and rolled it up nicely.
“Peruro, my dear, would you be so kind as to see this to Alphonse. He’ll be at the Hufflepuff table for lunch about now. And if you happen to spy that brother of his, bite his ear for me.”
The hoo-hoo bit his ear in response before she took the scroll and flew out of the room, leaving it in silence.
Hawkeye sighed deeply into the silence that surrounded him as the others sat stunned still. “If that’s all Sir, could you retire to your office so we could get some work done?”
He smiled. “Of course. If you need me, you know where I am.”
He left the room with Alphonse’s letter tucked into his pocket and his thoughts caught on the two boys that he’d sent into the wizarding world that he’d loved in his own past.
Fandom: Fullmetal Alchemist
Pairing: Pre Roy/Ed
Summary: “General Roy Mustang. Amestris. Central City Command. Second floor, third office. Big table,” Havoc read the envelope. “What kind of person sends mail by owl?”
“Wizards,” Roy answered.
Author's Note: So I am working on a long Hogwarts AU. It takes place four years after this. It is a Roy/Ed with Alphonse all at Hogwarts. Not many HP characters will show up in it other than teachers, but I'm enjoying playing at Hogwarts. Team Mustang has not made much of an appearance there either. Which led me to wonder how they would react to Wizard-Alchemist Mustang, and thus this piece was born :P
The main story will be a pretty explicit Roy/Ed story, with Alphonse and his friends at Hogwarts to cause trouble/solve a case. Not ready to start posting that, but I thought someone might enjoy a holiday preview of that world :P Hope you like it!
“Sir, what is that?”
General Roy Mustang looked up from his conversation with Havoc and it took him a moment to realize what had caused Hawkeye to call out to him.
Sitting in the middle of the desk was a majestic bird. The feathers were brown and white and it was a beautiful specimen. It had been some time since he’d last seen an owl in person and he never would have expected to see one here, in Central City in the middle of his office, but he recognized the handwriting on the envelope the owl clutched from across the table. The owl clicked his beak at Roy and he smiled.
“That is a Great Horned Owl,” he said as he reached an arm out. The owl came straight for him and he took the letter and set it on the table as he stroked the owl’s beak and head. “You have done a magnificent job. Thank you for your service.”
He dug into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out an owl treat. Alphonse said he would write once he got to Hogwarts and though Roy had doubted that he’d have time, he’d started to keep treats with him, just in case.
The bird took the treat and nipped his fingers playfully until Roy gave him a second. “Go along now. I have another messenger to send a return letter.”
The bird flew out the door and down the hall.
“Sir?”
He picked up the envelope and was happy to see the address.
“General Roy Mustang. Amestris. Central City Command. Second floor, third office. Big table,” Havoc read the envelope. “What kind of person sends mail by owl?”
“Wizards,” Roy answered.
“Is it from Ed?” Fuery asked.
“Alphonse, right?” Breda asked.
“I’ll know in a moment, won’t I?” he teased. They didn’t have anything truly pressing at the moment so he let them wait as he read the letter.
“Alphonse. He and Ed did as well in the testing as we thought they would, though Ed is still upset that Alphonse only tested into his age level and didn’t want to try to test out of more classes. Ed tested out of four of the core classes and…” Roy laughed, “passed the Defense Against the Dark Arts class but has to take it as a fourth year because he kept using alchemy instead of magic.”
He could picture it, and the tantrum Fullmetal had probably thrown when they announced that he had to take the class.
“They’re really learning to use magic?” Falman asked. Of all the staff he seemed the most fascinated with magic. He’d borrowed every book he could get his hands on until Roy had found him rather depressed about the lack of new reading material. Roy had loaned him a few of his personal books from his own time at Hogwarts and he kept an eye out for any new history texts.
“Yes,” Roy said as he continued to read. He looked up and smiled. “It seemed Hogwarts needed someone to teach their sixth and seventh year students alchemy. Since Ed tested out of so many classes, he’s teaching the class part time.”
“Ed is teaching a class? Man, I would pay to see that,” Havoc said with a laugh.
“Not to be in it though,” Hawkeye added. “So, they are settling in well?”
“Alphonse said Ed asked him not to say what House he’d been sorted into, but Alphonse is a Hufflepuff.” The others wouldn’t really understand the House system at Hogwarts but Roy could see him there. “It’s a good fit for him. Though now I am curious about Ed. If he was a Hufflepuff as well, Al wouldn’t have commented. I would have assumed they were sorted into Houses together.”
“Hard workers. Fair. That was Hufflepuff, correct?” Falman asked.
Roy nodded. “Yes.”
“What house were you, Sir?”
Roy was one of a few. In a world where magic and alchemy co-existed, they did so uneasily and few people took the path to become both a wizard and an alchemist. The training for both was too focused and too demanding. Roy was one of two Wizard-Alchemists in the world who had passed through formal training. There were always rumors of others in the world, people who’d done the training but weren’t recognized for their skills for some reason but they were never substantiated. There were only seven others in history that were known. It was a rare person who could do both. And he was thrilled, and a bit terrified, that both Elric brothers would join those ranks as well.
“Slytherin.”
“Don’t most of the dark wizards of the world come from Slytherin?”
“They do. It’s become a bit synonymous with the Dark Arts, though it isn’t encouraged at Hogwarts. Each house encourages different traits for their students,” he said to the others.
“Slytherin house is known for their ambition and drive,” Falman said. “I can see why you would fit there, Sir.”
He smiled. “It was a good match as well.”
“Do they always send mail through owl? Wizards I mean?”
“No,” Mustang said with a smile. “If that were the only way I would have asked the owl to remain while I responded to Alphonse’s letter.”
“How will you get a message to him then?” Fuery asked.
He hadn’t opened his mouth when the answer flew through the doorway and landed on his shoulder. She poked around behind his ear a moment and trilled lightly to him as he reached up to coax his beauty onto his hand. She was still an infant, hatched two weeks past, but already strong enough to bare what no other could. It was the nature of her kind.
“This is Peruro. She’s consented to take the message to Alphonse for me. It’s not the sort of work she is used to, but I think she’s looking forward to seeing Hogwarts with her new eyes.”
“Sir, what is she?”
“Peruro is a Hoo-Hoo. Sort of like a phoenix but not as big. She will be quite exquisite when she gets her full set of feathers back though. She’s only just hatched from the fire two weeks ago. Maybe I’ll have to bring you in once you grow to your full glory so I can show you off,” he commented to her.
She preened under his words and he set her up on his shoulder. “I have some things to do before I can write Alphonse. Are you going to stay?” she bit his ear and he laughed. “Alright, I get it.”
The others were enamored of her already, he could tell. She’d been more than helpful over the years since he’d acquired her and she was a loving companion.
“I think I need to find my quill.”
“Sir, you have one?” Falman asked, delighted.
“Of course. I don’t use it usually, but it seems wrong not to keep a quill and scrolls for correspondence with the wizarding world.”
“Do you often?” Breda asked.
“I have kept in touch with the Headmaster at my former school, and his successor. Dumbledore’s loss was tragic for all of us but they were in the middle of a war while we were preparing for the Promised Day. I had no way of leaving my post to help them, no matter how much it pained me to leave them to their own.”
“They prevailed though?”
He let out a harsh bark of laughter. “Much like us, through sheer luck and the determination of strong-willed children.”
“Will Ed and Alphonse do well there?” Hawkeye asked. As tough as she could be on all of them, it was her love and loyalty that drove her.
He would love to steal the sorting hat and see where it would have spit his team out, if they’d had a chance to attend Hogwarts.
“They will,” he said. “It’s probably safer for them there than here, while Grumman tries to settle this mess. It’s easy enough to explain Ed and Al off to study than to explain why Alphonse is suddenly in a body again. It’ll give them time to recover. And even if Hogwarts is still recovering from their own losses after Voldemort’s defeat, they’ll treat the brothers right.”
“You’re sure?” Havoc asked. “I mean, Ed can be a little hard to get used to.”
It was said with a fond smile and Roy knew exactly what he meant. A summer of tutoring them both in magic had changed his dynamics with both Ed and Alphonse. They’d stayed with him so they could study around his work hours and it seemed to have paid off.
“I spoke with the Headmistress myself. She knows their background and will keep an eye on them.”
“That’s good to know, Sir,” Hawkeye said. When she looked down at her desk and began to work it was clear she meant everyone else to do the same. He smiled and thought about the boys in Hogwarts and decided to write Alphonse now before the call of duty kept him from it.
As fascinated as his team had been, Roy pulled his wand from a hidden pocket in his jacket. It was made from flame elder wood, a rare piece of work, Ollivander himself had said. Roy had not yet begun to study flame alchemy at the time of his wand’s choosing, but years later the wand seemed to mock him with prescience of what he would one day become. He had come to terms with it now, but there had been a time when the sight of his wand had disgusted him.
The wood was pale with shoots of red dancing around the twisted wooden form. The core was from a phoenix feather, yet another sign of his future strengths in alchemy. At the time, and as it did now, the beauty of the wand soothed him. He turned back towards his office and called ‘Accio parchment. Accio quill’.
They both shot towards him and he grabbed the scroll and quill from the air and sat down in the outer office with the others. They’d never actually seen him do magic before and he worked hard to keep a straight face as he sat to compile his letter to Alphonse.
When it was done, he cast a drying spell so the ink wouldn’t smear and rolled it up nicely.
“Peruro, my dear, would you be so kind as to see this to Alphonse. He’ll be at the Hufflepuff table for lunch about now. And if you happen to spy that brother of his, bite his ear for me.”
The hoo-hoo bit his ear in response before she took the scroll and flew out of the room, leaving it in silence.
Hawkeye sighed deeply into the silence that surrounded him as the others sat stunned still. “If that’s all Sir, could you retire to your office so we could get some work done?”
He smiled. “Of course. If you need me, you know where I am.”
He left the room with Alphonse’s letter tucked into his pocket and his thoughts caught on the two boys that he’d sent into the wizarding world that he’d loved in his own past.